Reduce deaths from work-related injuries — OSH‑01 Data Methodology and Measurement

About the National Data

Data

Baseline: 3.5 work-related deaths per 100,000 full-time workers occurred in 2017

Target: 2.9 per 100,000

Numerator
Number of work-related injury deaths among full-time equivalent workers aged 16 years and over.
Denominator
Average annual hours at work for workers aged 16 years and over.
Target-setting method
Projection
Target-setting method details
Linear trend fitted using weighted least squares and a projection at the 50 percent prediction interval.
1
Target-setting method justification
Trend data were evaluated for this objective. Using historical data points, a trend line was fitted using weighted least squares, and the trend was projected into the next decade. This method was used because three or more comparable data points were available, the projected value was within the range of possible values, and a projection at the 50 percent prediction interval was selected because no additional information could be used to assess the trend line, so the target was based on the projection.

Methodology

Methodology notes

CFOI uses multiple data sources, including death certificates, workers' compensation reports, reports to various regulatory agencies, police reports, medical examiner records, and newspaper reports, to identify and verify work-related fatalities. CFOI uses hours worked data from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly household survey that collects data on the employment status of the civilian, non-institutionalized population aged 16 years and older. For the baseline year (2016), the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) produced hours-based rates; the baseline estimate is for hours-based employment. Hours-based rates are based on the average number of employees at work and the average hours each employee works. Hours-based rates measure fatal injury risk per standardized length of exposure, and are generally considered more accurate than employment-based rates. Employment and hours-based rates will be similar for groups of workers who tend to work full-time. However, differences will be observed for worker groups who tend to have a high percentage of part-time workers, such as younger workers. Rates are expressed for full-time equivalent workers. Full-time equivalent employees equal the number of employees on full-time schedules plus the number of employees on part-time schedules converted to a full-time basis. The number of full-time equivalent employees in each industry is the product of the total number of employees and the ratio of average weekly hours per employee for all employees. An industry's full-time equivalent employment will be less than the number of its employees on full- and part-time schedules, unless the industry has no part-time employees. For consistency with the CPS data, workers under the age of 16, volunteers, and military personnel are excluded from the CFOI counts used to calculate rates. Information on the type of industry is converted to North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes.

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Retained, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 with no change in measurement.

1. Because Healthy People 2030 objectives have a desired direction (e.g., increase or decrease), the confidence level of a one-sided prediction interval can be used as an indication of how likely a target will be to achieve based on the historical data and fitted trend.